Thesis Title

Author

Date of Graduation

Degree

Department

Communication Sciences and Disorders

Committee Chair

Letitia Walker Black

Keywords

P300, evoked potential, duration, amplitude, latency

Subject Categories

Communication Sciences and Disorders

Abstract

The P300 evoked potential is a positive response present between 250 ms and 500 ms after the onset of the stimulus. Current and past research has focused on the effects of frequency and intensity on the P300 response, while few studies have focused on the effects of stimulus duration on the response. The present study was designed to further study the effects of stimulus duration on the P300. The overall duration of the target stimulus was varied in an oddball paradigm (i.e., standard = 75 ms; target = 25, 35, 50, or 65 ms). Participants consisted of young, normal hearing females. Results revealed an increase in latency and a decrease in amplitude as the difference between the standard and target duration decreased, as well as a decrease in participants’ accuracy of identifying the target stimuli. The results suggest that there should be a minimum of 50 ms difference between the standard and target stimuli in an oddball paradigm eliciting the P300 evoked potential.